They've all separated, so what does it matter to me if they get poorer and poorer?

Chapter 172: Capture
The constables sent by Master Shao to arrest the man at Sifang Restaurant showed no respect whatsoever to Manager Fang.

At first, Manager Fang put on a smiling face and asked what was going on, but no one paid him any attention. Two constables then escorted him away, one on each side.

The restaurant's manager and staff were all there, but none of them dared to step forward; they could only watch helplessly.

Shopkeeper Fang quickly smiled and cooperated, "I can walk by myself, I can walk by myself, officer!"

The constables ignored him and led him out of the restaurant in a humiliating, submissive posture.

Manager Fang's vision went black, his legs went weak, and he was so ashamed and angry that he almost fainted.

Didn't everyone see that? Everyone will definitely think he committed a crime, then what about his reputation?

Who exactly is harming him?!
Shopkeeper Fang was completely at a loss and could only lower his head, wishing he could bury his head in his neck so that others wouldn't see his face.

He never expected that when he was taken to the yamen and met Master Shao, he would see that he had bribed the two people who had caused trouble at Xu Zhichun's stall.

Manager Fang immediately had a bad feeling.

His premonition soon came true.

Master Shao: "You bully others, engage in forced buying and selling, and bribe thugs and hooligans to try to seize other people's secret formulas. Fang Zhengduan, how dare you!"

Shopkeeper Fang hurriedly knelt down: "Master Shao, I'm innocent!"

"Hmph, they've already confessed."

“Master Shao, I told them to talk to Madam Xu properly, to reason with her and persuade her to sell the prescription to me. I did not force them to buy or sell, nor did I engage in any bullying or monopolistic practices. These two must have misunderstood me, or they were too eager to complete this transaction so they could get a commission, which is why they resorted to any means necessary.”

"But this was their own decision, not the intention of a petty person!"

"Please, Master Shao, make a wise judgment!"

The two men in blue glared angrily at Manager Fang, cursing him a thousand times over in their hearts.

They didn't make any distinction.

Now that things have come to this, they are the parties involved and will definitely be punished. But Madam Xu hasn't suffered any loss, has she? So at most, they'll be reprimanded by Master Shao and given a few lashes, which is nothing.

Once they left the yamen, they would have a reason to ask Manager Fang for a kickback. He dared not refuse.

They still need to give a large sum of money.

Just then, two more people were caught red-handed.

The constables reported everything, relaying Xu Zhichun's words.

Good heavens, these two are even more ruthless. Not only do they want the recipe for ice jelly, but they also want the recipes for gray tofu and gray bean shreds, forcing Xu Zhichun to sign a contract immediately, without mentioning how much money they would pay. They even started driving away other customers on the spot.

Manager Fang was shocked.

He kowtowed repeatedly in a panic: "Master Shao, Master Shao, I am truly innocent this time! I only said that I wanted to buy Madam Xu's ice jelly recipe. I didn't say that I wanted the gray tofu or gray bean shreds, much less that I tried to steal them, Master Shao!"

"This is interesting," Master Shao mocked. "You two, tell me, are you going to talk now, or wait until we've used torture?"

Master Shao had dealt with hooligans and thugs many times, and had arrested countless of them. He knew exactly how to deal with this type of person.

Manager Fang's henchmen are quite good at finding people; they're all seasoned veterans who perfectly suit Manager Fang's tastes. If it weren't for Madam Lu as Xu Zhichun's backer, even if he couldn't succeed, Xu Zhichun's business probably wouldn't have been able to continue.

The two were terrified and immediately knelt down, begging for mercy and confessing.

They chose the same path as the man in blue: admit to everything and pay compensation later. The two men stammered, but under Master Shao's relentless questioning, they told him everything.

Therefore, their insistence on Xu Zhichun obtaining the recipes for gray tofu and gray bean shreds was driven by selfish motives. Their insistence on signing a contract without mentioning the price was also an attempt to embezzle money.
In their view, the rural women who came to the city to set up stalls were helpless and timid, and were at their mercy.
Master Shao was furious: "This is outrageous! I never expected that there would be such shameless scoundrels under the Lord's rule! Guards, take them away and give each of them twenty strokes of the cane!"

"Yes!"

"Master Shao, spare us! Spare us!" the two cried and begged for mercy. The constables dragged them away, pressed them down and beat them, not gagging them, deliberately letting the three men hear.

Shopkeeper Fang was terrified and filled with trepidation, while the two men in blue were sweating profusely and cursing them as scoundrels.

Although they themselves are not good people, they know the principle of leaving room for future encounters. But these two are different. They want everything and are greedy, directly driving others to their doom.

Even a rabbit will bite when cornered, and even a clay figure has some earthy spirit.

Even if Madam Xu didn't know the magistrate's wife, she would probably still report them to the authorities and fight them to the death.

They don't even consider that out of the millions of rural women, how many can actually build a long-term business in the city?
Can Madam Xu be treated the same as other peasant women?

Stupid to death, serves him right for his bad luck.

Master Shao was clearly angered by them; he must not take his anger out on them, he must not...
Just as they were crying and howling as the men were being beaten with sticks, good heavens, two more people were brought in by the bailiffs.

The lead constable bowed and stepped forward to whisper instructions to Master Shao.

Master Shao chuckled, looking down at Manager Fang with a cold gaze: "Tell me the truth now, how many people have you bribed to target Madam Xu?"

Shopkeeper Fang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead again and again, trembling with nervousness and almost fainting once more.

"say."

"I...I don't know either. This matter was handled by my subordinates. They said there were five groups of two people each."

Master Shao: "."

Master Shao was genuinely amused and exasperated. "Manager Fang, I really don't know what to say. There aren't many people who leave me speechless, but you are one of them. Are you overestimating Madam Xu or underestimating her?"

Manager Fang lowered his head even further, not daring to utter a sound or raise his head.

When they were making such plans, they thought they had it all figured out. At that time, they were so smug, full of confidence, and self-assured.

At this moment, everything turned into fear.

"Master, Young Master Zeng requests an audience."

Master Shao snorted, "Please come in, you've come at the perfect time."

Manager Fang was stormed into the Sifang Restaurant in broad daylight and taken away by the constables. The restaurant's staff rushed to the Zeng family for help.

Madam Zeng was terrified and hurriedly sent someone to find her son, instructing him to take the silver notes and rush to the yamen.

"You must bring your uncle back safely, no matter what!"

Young Master Zeng was also startled. Although he was somewhat dissatisfied with his uncle, he absolutely did not want to see anything happen to him.

Young Master Zeng was also very puzzled. Even if his uncle did something unethical at times, it was at most a verbal dispute. Even if he bullied people, it was limited and he never caused any deaths. So why was he taken away by the yamen?

(End of this chapter)